European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker proposed on Wednesday the EU establish a military headquarters to build toward a permanent common defense force.
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European Union leaders struggling for support have identified security as one of citizens’ main concerns following militant attacks in Paris, Brussels and Nice over the past year.
What’s more, thanks to the results of the EU Referendum earlier this year, there’s a chance these pledges may not apply to the United Kingdom as it may have quit the European Union before the end of the decade.
Previously, British Prime Minister Theresa May has told the country that her government would not activate procedures under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – which officially dictate how an EU member state should withdraw from the union – before next year. Juncker said he would now present a bill to tighten controls on those who do not need visas as well. France and Germany, the bloc’s two most influential member states, recently submitted a proposal for greater European Union defense coordination, ranging from the creation of a logistics hub for pooling military transport to an European Union military headquarters. He said the U.K.’s departure should increase the necessity for greater European cooperation in defense.
He said: ‘It is clear that no lessons are going to be learned from Brexit.
Juncker did announce a new push on investment and job creation, extending a plan for a further three years and aiming to generate 630 billion euros ($707 billion) worth of public and private investment by 2022.
The Commission is aiming for an interim goal of 5G in a major city in each member state by 2020.
The lack of cooperation in defence costs Europe between €25bn and €100bn a year, he added, calling for joint purchasing of military equipment and vehicles.
With EU nations deeply divided, in particular by the continent’s biggest migration crisis since the second world war, Juncker’s speech focused on security and the economy to find ways of working together.
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He also called for a new European Union border and coastguard force to start work quickly with 200 guards and 50 vehicles deployed in Bulgaria by October. There could be no “a la carte access”, he said. Juncker urged that to be done quickly and reiterated the European Union negotiating position that Britain could not retain its full European Union market access if it blocks free immigration from the EU.
